Run, Bella, Run
by Another 'Ward' on the Barbie
Summary: Tired and Dirty, Bella's on the run and keen to get revenge on the enemy. Meeting up with some old friends by chance, things begin to look up.


**Title: Run Bella, Run**

**Pairing:** Edward and Bella

**Rating:** M

**Summary:** Tired and Dirty, Bella's on the run and keen to get revenge on the enemy. Meeting up with some old friends by chance, things begin to look up.

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><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong>_ I don't own Twilight nor it's characters. It belongs to the lovely Miss SM. I am just someone who gets kicks out of imagining what they would do in certain situations._

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><p>I panted, running through the deserted streets like my life depended on it. Well, it did. I knew if I stopped running it would be more than likely I would become riddled with bullet holes. I don't think that was particularly what my dad had in mind when he told me to escape.<p>

Okay, so I knew what I did was stupid.

But come on! If I hadn't acted when I did, Mike would have bitten the dust. As much as I was annoyed at the blonde haired footy-head, I didn't want the bloke to wind up dead as a Kangaroo on shooting day.

So stupid Bella had to tell the fuckers where to go.

Fuck Bella, you are an idiot sometimes.

One minute Mike had an AK 42 to his head and was trying to talk his way out of the situation with two dickhead enemy soldiers who were keen to make some chow mien with his desiccated body. The next minute I walk up to the soldiers and let loose my pent up frustration at being locked in a bloody prison camp for 5 months.

Not the smartest idea I've ever had.

Never mind that said idea and some good luck had somehow managed to get mechased by a squadron of invading militia who were keen on getting the little Australian girl back in the canner. But there was no way in hell I was going back there.

I knew what I had to do, but I was piss scared to do it.

Before I could go on with my daring noble acts, the first thing I had to do was get these cow turds off my back. At the end of Church Street I chucked a left, knowing if I got out of town and into farming territory I could easily paddock jump. For the first time in a long time, I was absurdly glad mum had sent me here to this semi-rural town in the middle of the south coast.

This would have been impossible to do back home in Sydney.

My father was Senior Constable of the small little division of Police in our rapidly growing, semi-rural town of Albion Park. Population? 5,436 people. Albion Park had one main street, Tongarra Road and all the houses spread out from behind it covering the gently undulating hills at the bottom of the escarpment. Albion Park was considered lucky; it had some of the most fertile farms bordering it in the area and the region was famous for dairy farming.

But since the war hit, the only thing it was famous for was death.

Half the population had been slaughtered, if not more. The rest of us were rounded up and shoved into the district High School. One afternoon I had been home with my dad, Charlie, when three men dressed in spish uniforms had burst down the door, put a gun to Charlie's head and told us to get moving. In a lot less words and poor English I can assure you.

The last 5 months, myself and the rest of the teens caught in Prison Camp 2590 had been living in our own piss and shit, waiting and praying that our good old buddies the US of A would come in and save the day.

We were still god damn waiting.

My Stepfather, Phil, who works for some pretentious sporting school as the NRL coach up in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs likes to say that the Americans are complete Dickheads and are late for every damn war. At first I had tried to defend the Yanks, but no, my words fell on deaf ears. Now though, I'm starting to believe him.

So that's the summarized version of how I, Isabella Swan, ended up here; racing flat chat for my life down Tongarra Road.

It seemed to have taken them awhile to get mobilized and so my clumsy self had the opportunity to run about 2 more Km's before I was spotted. I could hear the gun shots before I felt them. It was so dark that I could hardly see where I was running and I kept standing in potholes and cow dung every time I moved forward a couple of meters.

The car they were chasing me in was getting closer, and I knew I had to get off the road somehow. Suddenly I ran into a fence pole and I dropped to the ground and wiggled under the barbed wire, trying to ignore the stinging pain of the barbed wire shredding my exposed skin.

As soon as I was free, I was running again, and I was sort of grateful that the farmers had made the paddocks so large. I crossed the paddocks in a daze, crawling under fences, leaping over gates only to come tumbling down again as soon as I landed. I could see the vehicle spot light searching for me, trying to cover the plains as I darted around like a rabbit trying to keep as low to the ground and as quiet as I could.

There wasn't much sound but the rumbling of the truck, the sound of my feet hitting the soft muddy ground and the sound of my heart which never shut up. Boom, boom-boom, boom, boom-boom.

On and on I ran, my chest aching and my legs wobbling as they threatened to collapse on me. My mind was trying to stay positive; trying to will my legs to move out of sheer stubbornness. _Come on Bella you can do it!_ That annoying little voice in the back of my mind screamed. _Just a little bit further to the bush. You're almost there! _

My breathing sounded like a freight train when I finally saw the impossibly darker outline of trees and the shadows the full moon cast on them. I sobbed with relief as I staggered through the first line of trees and into the moist humid air of the bush.

When I reached a small clearing with a river that wound through the middle I collapsed on a particular clump of dry leaves, which was actually quite comfortable. I passed out, curled in a small ball as I hoped and prayed that I would make it through the night.

When I did wake up, it was to the soft dappled light of a summer day which was streaming through the protective overhead blanket of trees, their leaves creating a barrier of green between me and the sky.

I thought I would let you know, that being all alone, in the middle of a deserted national park is by far the most mentally painful thing.

I had never been a 'people' person and I loved working on my own and being alone to think. But after 6 weeks of having no human contact, I was beginning to wonder how long it would take till I actually went psycho.

The one and only positive about being alone was I was able to heal. My ankle hadn't been feeling well after the escape and I made myself a splint when I woke the next morning. I wasn't a doctor, but I knew that walking around on a bummed leg wasn't smart. I made the decision to stay there until it had relatively healed.

Australians may be laid back, but we aren't stupid.

I had planned to only stay in this spot for four weeks, but being too chicken and not being able to make up my mind, I stayed for another two weeks after that debating on what to do. I knew I wanted to get revenge on those bloody soldiers for all the shit they caused me and Charlie, but all the plans that I came up with were big and required a lot of resources I didn't have.

Or manpower.

But after those tedious six weeks, I had to know what was happening. How much control did the enemy have? Maybe the war had ended I didn't know. To find myself information I decided to go on a little tour of the town. Of course said tour would be done very quietly and in the very late night.

It was dark the night I decided to head out. There was no moon to guide me but being in the dark for so long, my eyes had become very in tune to night vision. Moving along the fringe of scrub that surrounded the fields on the outskirts of town, I looked toward my destination. Small dots of lights were present all over. The only problem was getting to the buildings, which were at least 5km away. Why did the fields have to be so flat? I cursed the early settlers who had cleared the rainforest which used to exist where the fields now were.

Taking a deep breath and shifting into a crouch I began to move as silent and stealthily as a wraith towards the sleeping town.

Walking along the fields made me feel very exposed. I felt like someone was watching me and any Joe blow could pick me off quickly and easily without me even knowing. It would be so easy for me to be killed, or worse, captured.

About halfway across the field suddenly my foot sunk down father than it was supposed to and before I could gain my balance, I fell face first towards the ground. I landed with a grunt. My foot got caught in a fucking rabbit hole.

Grumbling quietly I picked myself up and continued to walk. Finally I reached the end of the fields and hid in the first fringe of houses. Everything was so quiet. It was like a ghost town. Nothing stirred or moved. Most of the houses looked vacant and deserted, but every now and again there would be one or two houses which had sleek, brand new cars in the drive way, muddy boots at the door step and a very well looked after yard with short lawns and tended gardens.

Clearly the enemy was starting to move in and getting settled. I didn't like the thought of that.

The main street was dead and looked like there had been heavy fighting there. Charcoal remnants of shops stuck out underneath the pale and rather cold looking light of the street lamp. Empty grenades lay scattered on the ground. Huge craters littered the tarmac, making it more like a deadly maze that you would expect to see in some sort of sick horror film than in real life.

Luck was with me again. From where I was hiding I had a fairly good view of the street and from that good view I was able to determine that there was no guards, and that all the shops seemed full of food.

Perfect.

My food sources for the last couple of weeks had been scarce. Near the beginning of the track I had found an abandoned picnic basket full of food. Mind you all the food was off as it had been sitting there for a long, long time. But when you were starving it had to do. A creek ran through the national park and lucky for me it was abundant in fish. Not particularly liking seafood, it was tad difficult to eat them, but I was desperate.

Occasionally, if I was lucky I would catch a bird and light a small fire and cook it. I know it's illegal to have a fire in a national park, but what did you want me to do? Eat it raw?

So the thought of reasonably fresh food or even dehydrated food was like a strong magnetic pull.

Slowly I put one foot onto the path. I hesitated a moment.

No sound, no movement.

Shifting into a half crouch, I moved my whole body onto the path. Still nothing, but I wasn't taking any chances. I darted across the road and looked at the shop window. Hmmm… this was going to be either noisy or impossible. I rattled the door handle, nothing, but then again, I didn't expect it to be open either.

Reaching into my pocket, I searched for something that every girl should have in her pockets. But of course, I didn't. That was strange as I could have sworn I had kept that bobby pin in my pocket. I rummaged around some more.

Still nothing.

I was starting to worry. I had been out in the open much too long. My finger touched the thin metal end of the bobby pin in my back pocket.

Yes!

I pulled it out and studied the inoffensive little bobby pin before me. Slightly straightening it I stuck it in to the lock. I had no idea what I was doing. I had only picked a lock once, and it was by mere fluke that I did it then. I began to rummage the pin around in the lock. Sooner than I expected I heard the click of the door unlocking. I tugged on the door handle and it came open easily.

Still in the half crouch, I slunk into the room, closing the door behind me. The room was filled with packets of dehydrated food, packet food, tinned food, guns, ammunition, key rings, tents, sleeping bags, torches, matches, everything an army or an escapee would need. I was possibly having the best luck ever!

Smiling wildly I began shoving things into a backpack; a sleeping bag, a small pistol plus it's ammunition, a torch, matches and food, lots and lots of food. My backpack couldn't fit everything in so I grabbed one of the guns and used the strap to put it on. Then, with that out of the way, I filled the backpack so the zipper couldn't fully close.

Quickly, I dashed out of the store. Not bothering to check whether or not there was anyone around.

A very stupid mistake.

I was out of the safety of the door when I heard a shout. Instantly I froze, not daring to move in case it wasn't me that had been seen.

No, it was me all right.

The shout came again followed by running footsteps. I knew then I had to go.

Suddenly, without me telling them to, my legs began to run. I ran faster than I ever had before. The air heaved its way through my chest and my chest felt like it was engulfed in flames. Sweat dripped down my body making streams down my warm back. Suddenly something wised past my ear, I screeched and dove for a nearby bush.

I didn't stop and wait in the bush, no, that would have been just plain stupid. I kept crawling forwards till my head bashed into the base of a large gum tree. So quickly, before I really knew what was happening, I scampered up the tree till I had gone as high as possible.

Crouching like a mountain lion ready to spring, I stared down at the black ground below me. It didn't take long for the soldiers to reach the base of the tree. Praying intensely that they wouldn't look above their line of sight I watched the outline of the soldier.

Three other men quickly joined him. In the dim light, I couldn't tell whether they were soldiers or civilians. One of the men flicked on a torch. Its bright beam lit up everything in its path and they began to scan the area. As I watched the light get farther and farther away, I was too scared to come out of the tree. I waited until everything was perfectly silent and the light was gone before I began to climb down.

As soon as my feet touched the ground my brain began to search for a safer place to hide, there was no way I was going to get back to the national park tonight even though I never intended to go back there any way. There was only one place to go.

Bush.

Far out yet not too far out.

I wouldn't reach there by dawn. As if to confirm my answer the sky began to lighten. I knew I had to get out of there, but where would I go?

I began to run, not really knowing where I was headed; my thoughts were wildly buzzing around in my head. New plans forming, old plans changing.

I knew I had to fight back.

I knew I had to go somewhere where I could plan and come up with a strategy in relative safety before it was light. The sun was rising behind me, warming my back with its first rays as I ran out of the town.

Before I could make sense of where I was, I looked up at a very familiar house.

It was Alice's house.

Alice lived in a small little town just on the outskirts of my own. She had a large property but it was too small to call a farm. There was a main house, large, decadent and airy; like something you would see from a designer showcase magazine. Then, out the back was a small granny flat. Alice's father was a doctor who worked at the major hospital in a large town half an hour's drive away. He earned good money, but worked a lot.

Knowing I would be reasonably safe there, I made my way around the side of the house to the small flat. Thank god they had no fences on the property. I had never been inside before, just having looked at it from her back veranda.

I placed my hand on the white door and prayed that Alice's father, Carlisle hadn't alarmed it. The door swung open easily. It was very dark and shivers rolled down my spine. It felt likeI was in one of those scenes from the movies. You know the ones I'm talking about; where the heroine walks into a dark room and knows she's not alone?

The smells coming from the open door seemed to confirm this. It was warm inside, much too warm for an abandoned house. The sweaty smell of humans wafted through, tickling my nose like someone was dragging a soft goose feather over my top lip. The sound of heavy breathing echoed around the small dark room.

This cottage was inhabited.

Before I had time to react, I heard the spine tingling sound of a bullet sliding home and heard the accelerated breathing of someone at the end of the gun.

"Don't move!" cried a nervous Australian voice. I instantly recognized the voice but it didn't relax me.

"Hey now!" I heard my voice call in a similar tone

"I didn't know that you wanted to kill me, what a great way of saying hello to you best friend" I said trying to make a poor attempt at a joke.

"What the hell?" cried another strikingly familiar voice.

"Alice" I said trying to reassure them "Put the gun down, it's Bella."

~~~X0X~~~

Somehow when your own best friend is holding a shotgun to your head, you can't help but wonder how twisted the world could be.

Then again, you might just have a seriously mentally unsound friend or you may have done something terribly wrong, like kill her cat or squashed her great aunty Anne with a four wheel drive when she was crossing the road to buy more wool for a new jumper she was knitting.

Luckily for me I didn't kill Alice's cat or squash her great Aunty Anne and as far as I knew she wasn't mentally unsound, but that still didn't explain why I felt so sure that she would pull the trigger because she didn't believe me.

She didn't believe me.

"You expect me to believe you?" she snorted a bit more confident, "How do I know that you're not an enemy soldier pretending to be my friend."

Desperate not to die at the hands of my own friends, I said the first thing that came to my head, which, for the record, I very rarely do.

"I can see how you would think that but if I were an enemy soldier then how would I know that you were madly in love with Jasper from Albion Park High and you bribed your bus driver to drop you in front of his school every day so you can walk past to try and catch his attention. Oh and how would I know that Rosalie loves to play 'Kingdom of Hearts' and as a little kid, loved to watch 'Oliver and company'?" my voice rose in pitch and began to quaver as tears overflowed from my eyes.

I was actually here with my two best friends and they were questioning me! How could they not tell it was me through my voice?

But I was so eager, so desperate to convince them that I pulled out the one thing I never wanted to pull out, I opened the parent draw.

"P-please b-b-believe me!" I sobbed, "Y-y-you gu-u-ys are the only f-f-family I'v-v-ve got left! W-w-what about all them s-s-sleepovers w-we had? W-w-what about a-a-a-all the-e promises to-o st-t-tay tog-g-gether? IT'S ME!"

I was sobbing so much all my words were running together and I had trouble getting them out. I had no idea whether or not they understood any of it. Something in my sobs must have convinced them because suddenly the flat's lights switched on and I looked though my wall of tears into the faces of my two best friends, Alice and Rosalie.

Rosalie's beautiful face was covered in pain as she took in my face and listened to my sobs. Her silky,ash blonde hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. Her chocolate eyes were full of pity as she took in my position; kneeling at Alice's feet, covered in mud and dried up blood, my face blotchy and red from sobbing, my nose running beyond control, my eyes flooded with tears, my once perfect chocolate hair full of grease and dry mud.

I must have looked like a savage.

She fell to her knees and hugged me with such a force I began to wonder how weak I must have become. My head rested on the shoulder of her clean aqua long-sleeved shirt, I felt guilty for making it dirty.

But I was mainly looking at Alice. She had put the gun down, thank God, and was staring at me with the strangest look; she almost seemed guilty. Her thin dark eyebrows were pushed together with concern as she looked down at me, her beautiful pale skin seemed even whiter than usual. She had lost a lot of weight, her clothes hung around her delicate frame.

"What on earth happened to you Bells, you're a mess!" Rosalie's clear, soothing voice tried to calm me but I could hear the raging curiosity behind the calm facade. Alice impatiently tossed her short spiky black hair and waited for me to talk.

I knew I would have to tell them everything and they weren't going to like one second of it. Especially when I told them about my plans.

Trying desperately to rid myself of the tears, I began my tale. I told them everything slowly, afraid of their reactions. I watched their emotions as I spoke, watched their expressions change in synchronization.

They started out curious and rather impatient, then they went to worry- especially Alice when she found out about how Jasper had been beat up by the soldiers. After worry they were shocked and flabbergasted as regaled them with my run in with the "Boss".

As as I told them about Charlie and the events quickly following, Alice started to cry with me and Rosalie looked like she was going to murder them in the goriest way possible. It was frightening to say the least, but I was so glad to be with them.

"THAT LITTLE-" Rosalie cussed, "He better watch his back because he will want to watch out for me! I'll skin him alive and boil him in acid, maybe shoot him a couple of the times in the crotch-" she began pacing coming up with ways to kill him. Clearly all those horror movies had gone to her head.

Alice was still crying. Well bawling is a more accurate word. Her tears cut me deeper than the barbed wire on my grand escape. I held her in my arms, desperately trying to find a way to calm her.

Rosalie had worked herself up even more. She was now planning a massacre, killing all the soldiers in hopes that he would see what was coming for him then torture him then kill him cruelly. Texas Chainsaw Massacre anyone?

Sighing I knew I had to stop the both of them before things got out of hand. "Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?" I didn't get an answer so began to continue.

As I got to the part about my escape, Rosalie stopped pacing and came over and sat down next to the now transfixed Alice. They listened fairly quietly except for Rosalie's muttered comments about revenge. When I told them I had food, lots, their eyes lightened.

"Well that's the end of my story," I said in a monotone.

"Wow." Alice breathed her eyes wide as she saw images in her head. "That's way more exciting than what happened to me." She seemed almost envious that I had an eventful past couple of months.

"Exciting?" Rosalie snorted, "How the hell would that have been exciting? You find most of that in horror movies. I am disappointed though Bells, why didn't you kill a couple of them?"

I had thought about killing them but I didn't have the resources.

"Well, I could have, but I didn't have the fire power to do so." I explained disheartened.

Alice smacked me over the head.

"You actually considered it?" she said outraged and shocked, "Since when have you been blood thirsty?"

I couldn't help but flash a grim smile at how much I had changed over the past couple of months. It was shocking even to me let alone to anyone else.

"Well" I explained, "I still am considering it. In fact I have lots of ideas, but most of them require more manpower than I have-"

Rosalie cut me off then- "You have me! Let's do something! Blowing up the bad guys! HELL YEAH!" Rosalie's eyes were bright and she was so eager to do it she was bouncing around.

Alice swallowed nervously, "I d-don't know" she said her voice laced with anxiousness.

"Oh come on, Ali!" said Rosalie giving her a playful punch in the arm. "It will be fun!"

Alice rolled her eyes.

"Sure Rose, killing off enemy soldiers in highly dangerous enemy territory with the huge possibility of being slaughtered. That is the pinnacle of fun!" Alice snapped petulantly.

Now it was Alice's turn to roll her eyes

"Come on! You sound like Bella before the war when I tried to convince her to get over Harry Freaking Potter!" Rosalie said, rolling her eyes at my past obsession.

A hysterical giggle burst through my lips as the pleasant memory sprung to mind. Rose was right, Alice was using the exact sarcastic tone I had.

Alice hung her head. After a couple of seconds she lifted up her head, slowly but suddenly there was determination and confidence which raged in her eyes.

"Let's do it!" she said loudly, voice full of her new found determination.

Smiling at them, a burst of blood lust rushed through me and I said with a serious tone "We're killing some people today."

~~~XOX~~~

Farms can be so peaceful can't they?

As I watched the sun rise the next day after my reunion with Rosalie and Alice, I couldn't help but notice the feeling of serenity which stole through me. The numbness was replaced with awe as I sat on one of the wooden posts in the barbed wire fence. Somehow, even through all this craziness, this land hadn't changed. It was still as peaceful and as strong as it always had been, and hopefully always will be.

I closed my eyes as I felt the suns warm rays fall across my skin. Slowly I opened them and watched the bright pink, orange and golden rays dance across my skin. I finally had a opportunity to shower. It felt so good to have the warm water trickle down my cool skin. I also had managed to wash my clothes as well.

Smiling at the rolling hills I was now facing, I remembered how much food we had devoured. All of us had been lacking a good feed, so sinking our teeth into the somewhat nutritional lacking dehydrated food was a relief. We had stuffed ourselves' silly and put a serious dent in the food supplies.

It looked like I would have to become a food ninja in a couple of days time. We decided to only eat the bare minimal to try and span the food out, but even if we did we all knew food supplies would need updating soon.

Unfortunately Rosalie and Alice had eaten all the food in the main house and the reasonably stale food from surrounding farmhouses. Deciding to be proactive, I had planned to raid some more houses closer to town.

Dangerous but necessary.

Sighing at the reminder of finding food I turned and jumped off the fence, narrowly missing the barbed wire. Picking my way through the wild grass back to the flat I began thinking about which houses I was going to pick.

Some way up the road were three houses I knew well. One of them I knew better than others as it was the house of my childhood friend Angela Weber. We used to be inseparable until we entered the sixth grade. By the time we had entered high school, we had gone our different ways for various different reasons. But as a result of those few happy years, I had gotten to know the house like I knew my own.

The other two houses we had visited in our childhood travels. One was owned by a retired primary school teacher and the other belonged to the local doctor. I had been in both houses once and but couldn't remember the layouts very well. I didn't know if the houses were occupied, but I did know that neither of them had alarm systems. Unfortunately the Weber's house did.

Contemplating a way into these houses during the daytime, I entered the cottage. Rosalie was sitting on the old decrepit lounge reading 'Pride and Prejudice'. Alice on the other hand was looking at the last four packets of dehydrated food with a dejected expression. It looked like she was trying to will into existence more than the measly amount there was.

It didn't think there was going to be anything interesting happening today, so my plans for finding food were reinforced. "Okay!" I said with half a sigh "I guess it's time to find some food."

Rosalie jumped off the lounge. "Okay let's go! I'm sick of this place," she said looking around the room and shuddering like it was a torture chamber.

"Here, here!" Alice said almost anxiously.

"Okay" I said all business, "This is how we are going to do it. I'll go north and focus on the houses on the edge of both the towns. Rose; you focus on the houses on the opposite end, you know, from the end of town to Kiama. Alice, you focus on the houses around the town." I paused and looked at both of them to check if they agreed to where they had been assigned.

When both had nodded in agreement I continued, "Now I know it's daytime, and the nighttime would probably be better for this sort of thing but let's face it, we don't have enough food to last us till the end of the day. I'm sure we could ration it out but I don't want to do that unless things get dire. This is going to be hard, because a lot of houses might have alarms. But I'm hoping that the enemy has just waltzed up and kicked them out of the house, so alarms haven't been used. But if you think a house is occupied, don't go into it, at all! You got bags? Good, fill them as much as possible; we may as well build up a huge store which will last us for a couple of weeks, so we don't have to keep going back and forth. Oh and above all else, watch your back; we don't know how far enemy soldiers have spread. If someone isn't back by tomorrow morning don't panic, they might have had to lie low for a couple of hours. Keep to the trees and bush, avoid open spaces. Okay, that's all I have to say let's go!"

~~~XOX~~~

Peering out of the bushes I stared at the house before me and began to wonder whether this was really a good idea. It had been a long and tiring walk. It was also a very warm day for late May.

Sweat dripped like a tap off my pink face as the house wiggled and danced in front of my eyes. I had been looking at this house for about an hour, I estimated. It looked fairly safe. I just had to try not to startle the cows.

There were only about 15 of them left alive but to call them alive was generous. They were so thin that it looked like their skin would break at the slightest touch and all you would find was a skeleton. They also seemed very jumpy. They would shuffle their hooves at the sound of a bird crying, one look at me and I would probably cause a stampede.

Not the best idea for someone who's trying to be inconspicuous.

A lot of carcasses lay strewn around the barren field. In their hunger, the cows had cropped the once luscious green grass to the seed and all you could see was dirt turned over by their hooves.

I guess you are wondering which house I was at- I was at the doctor's house, and technically, they weren't his cows. The cows belonged to the Volituri's, who was the old primary school teacher. Anyway, I did know that the doctor and his wife had one thing that would slow me down.

A dog.

Now, this dog had always had a lot of freedom. It wandered everywhere, never really staying in one place for too long. It also never liked me and had taken a snap at me more than once. Funny enough, I was more scared of the dog than the cows, even though the cows could have trampled me to death quicker than the dog could snap.

Sucking in a deep breath, for the billionth time I looked at the dash I had to make over the road and into the closest bush. My instincts were screaming not to do it, but I couldn't get to the house without crossing the road. I decided to approach it like I would if I was ripping off a Band-Aid; as quickly as possible.

Closing my eyes I bounded across the road and did a commando roll into the bush. But of course, because my eyes were closed, I wasn't watching where I was going and as I dove into the bush my head whacked into the branch with a loud thud.

Cursing explicitly, I curled into a little ball inside the safety of the bush and prayed that no one had seen me. I waited for a couple of seconds, the crown of my head aching terribly.

Nothing except for the very agitated cows mooing.

Phew.

Rubbing my head I looked around me. There was a clump of very big bushes that were very close to the front door. I got down on my stomach I slithered towards the clump and rolled dramatically into the bushes. I managed to inflict more pain on myself by rolling into a pile of poison ivy.

_Great. _

I quickly jumped out of the patch and scratched at my arms which had taken the full effect of the ivy. I had taken my jumper off before I left because it was so warm and was cruising around in a tank top.

As I began to creep towards the bushes near the door, I heard a growl. All the hairs on the back of my neck rose as I looked down at the small, angry blue heeler.

Damn!

The one time the dog could go wherever the hell it wanted it had to stay where it belonged.

I was okay with dogs, not like Alice who I thought was a dog whisperer. Desperate to get the dog to shut up and leave me alone I looked around and my eyes fell on a muddy tennis ball to the side of my foot.

Distraction maybe?

I picked up the tennis ball, and not taking my eyes off the dog, I worked to make my voice and face happy. "You wanna play fetch? Here doggy! Fetch!" I half whispered as I waved the ball in front of her face then threw it far out into the field with the cows.

As it flew over one of the cows, she turned her head and watched it fly and land not far away. Unable to resist, the dog ran to the ball.

While the dog ran towards the ball, I ran to the door. Without checking, I impatiently rattled the door handle begging it to open. Of course, continuing with the stream of bad luck, the door wouldn't budge.

Growling to myself, I rattled it harder and shoved against it, trying to force it open. I heard the ball before I saw it. The ball dropped loudly against the tiles on the front porch right near my foot. In surprise I looked down to see the dog looking curiously up at me, wagging its tail.

"Again?" I asked the dog, even though it couldn't answer.

Unclasping my hands from the door handle, I picked up the ball and threw it. The dog sprung after it.

Clearly I wasn't making any progress with a door so I crept around the side of the house trying to find a window. I went for one that looked like it was easy to climb through. Carefully, I put my hand against the handle and tried to tug it upwards.

Locked.

Who locked windows in the country?

Obviously the doctor.

I knew there was a reason I disliked that man.

Stepping back into the bush, I didn't look behind me. Wrong idea. I stepped on something soft and thin, with a loud yelp, the dog turned it's head and bit down hard on my leg. Letting out one of my loudest screams, I pulled my foot up, trying to dislodge the dog.

The dog didn't let go.

Reaching down, I tried to pry away its jaws from my leg. Nope, the dog was paying me back and bit down harder. Swearing, I smacked it on the head as hard as I could.

Poor little dog; I knocked it out cold.

I looked down at my wounded leg. Naturally, it was the one I had hurt a month or so ago.

Blood poured from the wound relentlessly.

Whimpering, I picked up an old brick at the foot of the tree and pegged it at the window. I had already made enough noise so far I thought in for a penny and in for a pound. Limping over to the window, I pulled off my tank top. I wrapped it around my leg to try and stop the bleeding. I didn't know how effective it would be.

Using my fist, I punched in the remainder of the glass from the window, leaving the window wide open and relatively glass free.

Being very careful I sat on the ledge of the window and carefully swung my injured leg over the sill and into the house so I was sitting like I would on a horse. Then, careful to only put a bit of weight on my bad leg I swung my good leg over and I was in the house.

I was in a hallway with doors to my left and right at even intervals.

Not what I was looking for.

I limped my way down the hallway and stopped where another hallway interconnected it. Down one end I could see the front door so it looked like I was going to have to go left.

I stumbled along the hallway; happy faces smiled down at me from the many family photographs hanging on the wall. I couldn't bring myself to look at them.

Finally after going through a living room with a modern home theater set up I reached the dining room and kitchen.

I opened the fridge and began to grab anything that looked edible into the large hiking back pack I had found in Alice's cottage since Rosalie had taken my backpack.

After emptying the fridge, I moved to the pantry. It wasn't very full. I grabbed whatever could be eaten and shoved it in. Because the backpack was so big and bulky, my find had only filled a half of it.

I quickly made my way back to the window and carefully placed the backpack on the ground before leaping out. I landed in a roll so I wouldn't make my leg bleed any more. As I got up, I looked over at the little unconscious dog. Poor thing would probably end up starving to death.

I tried not to think about who else had died during this war as I pulled the backpack which was about the same weight that my school bag would have been on a normal day at school.

I slunk into the bushes and decided to skip the Volituri's place and try my luck at the Weber's. There was a line of trees and bushes which went all the way to my goal of the Weber's garage.

Once I reached it, I exposed myself as I casually walked to the garage door. I knew that they never locked the garage so I pulled and twisted the handle and then pulled the door up a fraction so I could sneak in. After I was in I began poking around.

I found a set of screw drivers which I thought might come in handy, two small torches which worked, a large machete and a gun with lots of bullets.

Quickly, I slipped out of the little gap and shut the garage door. As I turned to make my way back to the bushes I heard a loud crash, which sounded like it came from inside the house. I froze as I heard it, the sound pinning me to the ground.

I don't know how long I stayed frozen for, but long enough to collect my thoughts enough to make me realize that I should hide. I ducked around the side of the garage which didn't face the house and slipped into the small cubby that I had helped to make as little kid.

I sat in there and thought for a second. A sound like that wouldn't happen unless there was someone inside.

The house had seemed unoccupied, but maybe I hadn't looked hard enough. I knew I should check it out; it was the right thing to do. I also knew there was a high possibility that the house was full of enemy of soldiers, but what if it was a home to an escapee? Would they be able to help? Would they want to join our plans for revenge?

As my mum used to say, "You never, ever know if you never, ever go." So taking in a deep breath I crawled out of the cubby and walked forward to meet my fate.

~~~XOX~~~

And as she stepped into the haunted house, she was shot down by the enemy soldier who started to sing and dance with glee that he had killed her…

I'm kidding!

That didn't happen, thank God.

As I walked around to the back door warily; my hand didn't shake, my finger expectantly resting against the trigger, ready to pull at a seconds notice. Carefully, I pulled at the door and saw the lock looked like it had been hacked at with a chainsaw.

I swallowed nervously as I took one wary step inside. It was dead silent; unnaturally quiet. It was black; no fading light from the outside sunset penetrated the darkness. I reached for the light switch and I pressed it.

I took in two figures, one holding a knife, standing defensively in front of the other. I didn't look at the figures, just pulled the trigger. In my haste, my shot was off by only a couple of hairs breadths and it flew past the knife holder's chest and hit the painting behind him.

The glass shattered dramatically. As I prepared to aim again I heard a familiar voice swear and another voice scream

"STOP BELLA! IT'S US!"

If I hadn't been so in tune to that voice I wouldn't have stopped, but I finally looked at the two men standing before me. The tallest one who had been holding the knife had his back to me, he was looking at the hole in the painting and assessing how close it had been to hitting his chest.

The other one was walking towards me, his beautiful face full of shock his hands up in surrender. The gun fell out of my outstretched arm. I felt myself start to fall, and then everything went black.

When I opened my eyes, I was lying in his arms looking up at his gorgeous face. The face I had often stared at when he wasn't looking at me. He smiled at me. Not a small smile or a grim one, a real one that knocked the breath out of me.

"Hey sleeping beauty!" he teased, his voice calm.

"Edward?" I asked my voice shaking slightly. I still wasn't fully recovered from my shock.

"Yeah," Edward said still smiling. "Long time no see 'eh?" he said playfully.

I couldn't help but smile back. Suddenly, a deep emotion replaced the playful one that had been in his eyes. Before I had time to figure it out he had pulled me up into tight hug.

"God I've missed you," he murmured in my ear.

"Hey!" protested a familiar voice, "Do I get to say hello or do I just have to sit here and watch like a wiener?"

Edward sighed then released me from the hug, but he didn't let me go, just moved his arms so he was supporting me. He glared at the tall guy sitting in one of the armchairs.

"It's a little thing called patience! You should try it sometime!" Edward said his tone acidic, continuing to glare.

"Jeez! Slow down mate, you'll make Hitler look like a garden gnome!" Emmett said trying to calm down the suddenly aggressive Edward.

"Hey Bella!" he said cheekily, giving me his trademark impish smile.

Smiling again I replied, "Hey Em."

I looked back at the now calm Edward. He was staring at me with the same look in his eyes that he had before he had hugged me. I started to feel self-conscious.

"What are you two doing here? You almost gave me a heart attack!" I exclaimed, a bit angry.

Emmett held up his hands in defeat. "Okay, so we scared you but what's the bi-" he quickly began back tracking as he saw my expression

"We're sorry but this big douche knocked over that pot while we were trying to figure out who it was in the garage." Emmett explained while he playfully smacked Edward over the head.

Edward threw him a playful punch and he over reacted. I laughed, something I hadn't done in a while. The sound shocked me. I had forgotten how much I had liked these guys and enjoyed hanging out with them.

"Okay, so what are you doing here?" said Edward, as his eyes ran over my clothing.

To my embarrassment I remembered that I had taken off my tank top and I was only wearing a black sports bra and denim short shorts. I blushed bright red and when I looked up at him he gave me a cheeky smile.

"Uh," I said embarrassed, "I have been ransacking houses for food. My friends and I just met up yesterday and none of us had much food so we went looking for some. I got a bit and I know this house so I came here to get some odd bits I thought it might be useful. I can explain my clothing by the way." I explained sheepishly.

We all looked down at the totally blood soaked material which was wrapped awkwardly around my leg.

"What in the hell did you do?" exclaimed Emmett gently giving a tug at the dodgy knot I had hastily tied.

"Are you okay?" asked Edward, his voice full of concern. He put his hand on my forehead to check my temperature.

"Damn dog bit me," I muttered. "I'll get Rose to look at it when I get back."

"YOU'RE LEAVING?" Edward almost screamed.

"It's way too late! You'll get lost!" Emmett said concerned.

"No, just no!" Edward said with certainty as he shook his head.

"Look, if I don't get back, Alice and Rose will panic and then they'll go looking for me and God knows what will happen if they run into an enemy soldier." I shuddered.

"You can't go on your own!" said Edward, horrified at the idea.

"Well then by all means come with me. We have a safe place to hide at the moment. I am sure you have eaten this place out of house and home. Plus don't you want to be with other people? Well, my friends and I have decided to do something about the enemy, you know become like guerilla soldiers? I have a couple of plans of revenge but we don't have the manpower to carry out anything big. I understand if you don't want to do it, were not forcing you to. I am just offering. Take it or leave it?" I said finishing up my ramble.

I looked at each of them, seeing if I had interested them. To my surprise I had.

"Revenge?" Emmett questioned, with a freaky looking smile on his face as he looked at Edward, his fist outstretched. Edward reached out smiling also and thumped his fist with his.

"Oh, yeah!" said Edward, smiling.

I looked out the glass door. It was getting late andthey must have been wondering where I was.

"Okay, let's get moving." I said struggling to get up.

"Whoa!" Edward said, catching me as I started to fall.

"Thanks." I said giving him a genuine smile.

"You're welcome." he murmured, the deep emotion in his eyes again.

Emmett cleared his throat and I looked up at him then blushed again. Edward never moved his gaze off my face. Emmett grabbed the big backpack and pulled it over his shoulders.

"Oh you don't have to carry that!" I said reaching out to take the bag off him.

"No, I want to." Emmett said firmly. Clearly I wouldn't budge him.

I turned to pick up the gun and saw that Edward already had it in his hand. Edward saw I was going to complain and he just smiled and lifted one finger and placed it on my lips to tell me to be quiet.

"I insist." was all he said.

"Besides," Emmett said, drawing my attention, "You have to show us the way. After you." he said gesturing that I should go with a flourish of his hands and a cheeky smile.

I sighed. I reached toward Emmett and poked around in the bag for one of the torches I had found. I grabbed it and flicked it on. I then covered it with my hand so it was only a dim glow. I didn't want to attract notice.

We exited the Weber house and Edward to shut the door to make it look like no one had been there.

We began the slow descent down the hill towards the township. It was a long walk. Longer than I remembered. They didn't complain though, they just silently followed, well almost silently.

About half way into our journey, Emmett began to hum the tune to "All the Small Things" by Blink 182. Edward joined in at the chorus. I just listened.

After they had finished the song they moved onto 'Road to Nowhere' by Talking Heads. Kind of ironic to sing whilst walking in the cover of bush along a road which seemed to stretch on forever.

After a while I began to feel dizzy. I hadn't eaten since that morning and I had lost a lot of blood and was still probably losing it. Like he sensed things weren't going so well, Edward walked up next to me and held out a bar of chocolate.

"Thank you" I whispered quietly as took it and devoured it quickly.

After I was done, I felt a warm, large hand slip into mine. I looked over and under the light of the moon I saw Edward giving me a warm smile. I decided to give the torch a rest and didn't want to waste batteries; so it was in one hand and Edward's hand in the other.

We reached the back of a paddock that was behind the cottage. I stopped and looked across the field to the direction we would go. Because I had stopped abruptly it had taken Emmett and Edward a while to realize I wasn't next to them. They both turned came and stood next to me and looked out across the field to where we were going.

"Okay," I whispered. It had been a while since we had made noise so my voice seemed loud even though I had whispered. "We have to cross about three paddocks to get to the right one. They all have barbed wire fences but there are big gaps where you can squeeze through. I made them this morning with a pair of pliers." I smiled a grim, smug smile.

Moving like a cheetah with a bummed leg, I stealthily moved across the first paddock knowing that any minute my legs could brush against the spikes of the barbed wire fence. I was still holding Edward's hand so it was easy to tow him along with me.

Sooner than I thought, the points pricked the skin of my bare stomach and legs. Turning on the torch I gave it a flick over the fence to try and find where I had strategically placed the holes.

I put the torch beam on the floor and moved in the right direction. After getting through the hole, I turned to see if Emmett was still with us. He had his hand placed on Edwards' shoulder so he wouldn't get lost.

We continued in the same fashion over the next two paddocks. When I would feel the barbed wire, I would move the torch's beam to the fence so I could find the hole.

We finally reached the fence guarding Alice's property from the paddocks. I had purposely not put a hole in this fence, as there was a gate directly opposite from the last hole which was easy to climb over. As I reached the gate, I dropped Edward's hand then gave him the torch and began to climb.

It was hard. I couldn't put any weight on my leg, so I did it one legged, which took more time but was the only way I could have gotten over. As it was, the boys got over much quicker and easier than I had. Edward only had to put down the gun then climb one rung onto the top and leap.

Emmett on the other hand just ran back a couple of steps then leaped over it like a hurdle, the added weight of the bag was nothing. I suppose that was an advantage of being so tall.

Making my way to the door of the cottage I took a deep breath and then knocked the secret- it really wasn't all that secret; it was the tune of the pink panther- knock then stood back as a wary Rosalie opened the door.

"Bella!" she cried with relief, "Oh thank God! I was so worried! What took you so long-" It was only then did she notice the two people behind me. She paused mid-sentence and looked them up and down.

She looked back at me, one eyebrow raised and said questioningly, "Who are they?"

"This is Edward and Emmett. You know my friends from school? I found them in my exploring." I said.

Both her eyebrows raised and her eyes widened. She threw a quick glance at the two boys. They weren't looking. She mouthed 'Which one is Edward?'

Of course she would want to know.

I had a big crush on Edward and of course both Rosalie and Alice knew. They were giving me tips on how to win him over. I looked pointedly behind me to where Edward was standing, fiddling with a broken wind chime by his head.

Rosalie followed my gaze and looked him over. When I looked back at her she was still looking him over with her 'I see what you mean' expression. She turned back to me and wagged her eyebrows. She approved and probably would tell me so officially later when he wasn't around.

"So are you going to let us in?" I asked. I desperately needed to sit down and check out my wound. It didn't feel okay.

"Oh, of course." She said smiling winningly at the two newcomers.

She gestured for us to come in. I limped in, wincing as I moved my leg and Rosalie noticed.

"Gah!" She gasped blanching slightly, "What did you do now?" she asked me, her voice full of disapproval.

I placed myself gingerly on the lounge.

"Dog bite. I haven't cleaned it out or really even looked at it. You know how I am with blood." I said looking up at her gravely.

She just nodded in understanding.

"Edward, right?" she asked looking directly at him, catching him off guard with the direct statement.

"Uh yeah," he said embarrassed.

"Can you get me that first aid kit on top of the fridge?" she said, all business.

Edward stood obediently and got it for her. He gave it to her and then sat down on the floor next to where my head was. Rosalie set to work on my leg and I tried to ignore the pain. Eventually I drifted into a very disturbed sleep where I was enveloped in even stranger dreams.


End file.
